The EU – Project’s first event in Calgary on the occasion of the Global Petroleum Show held on Wednesday, June 13th was a resounding success with a packed house of government and corporate leaders from Alberta and beyond. The event kicked off with an engaging welcome from The Honourable Cal Dallas, Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations for the Government of Alberta followed by Mr. Maurizio Cellini, First Counsellor, Head of the Economic and Trade Section for the EU Delegation to Canada. It was a pleasure to have a panel of speakers following a lunch at Calgary Stampede Park with viewpoints and presentations from institutional speakers from Alberta and the European Union as well as corporate executives from European and Canadian companies.

Mr. Cellini once again led off the panel, followed by Daryl Hanak – Executive Director, International Trade Policy for Alberta Ministry of International and Intergovernmental Relations. The focus then shifted to the business sector with Gary Houston, Vice President of Northern Lights Project for TOTAL E&P Canada, a subsidiary of the French company TOTAL. Afterwards, Mr. Pierre Alvarez, Vice President of Corporate Relations for Nexen Inc led the Canadian presentations which culminated with a presentation from a true SME, Questor Technology Inc., represented by Audrey Mascarenhas, President and CEO.

Having already received numerous positive feedback for this event, we look forward to the next events in Calgary: a seminar on how to do business in Europe tentatively set for October 23rd and a conference in January 2013

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A History of Economic Cooperation

Canada and the EU have a long history of economic cooperation. Composed of 27 Member States with a total population of over 500 million and a GDP of nearly $16.8 trillion in 2010, the EU is the world’s largest single common market, foreign investor and trader. As an integrated block, the EU represents Canada's second largest trading partner in goods and services. In 2010, Canadian goods and services exports to the EU totalled $49.1 billion, and imports from the EU amounted to $55.2 billion.